SOMA Living December 2021

FINANCIAL FOCUS

BE PREPARED FOR LONG-TERM CARE COSTS

Like everyone, you’d like to enjoy a long, healthy, independent life. But the future is unknowable, so it’s a good idea to prepare for a variety of outcomes – including the possible need for long-term care. Consider the following: • Someone turning age 65 today has almost a 70% chance of eventually needing some type of long-term care service, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. • The median annual cost for a private room in a nursing home is about $105,000, and it’s almost $55,000 for home health aide services, according to the insurance company Genworth. While everyone’s situation is different, you may want to budget for two to three years’ worth of long-term care expenses. But how can you prepare for these costs? Essentially, you’ve got three options: • You could self-insure. If you would like to cover the costs of long-term care out of your own pocket, you’ll need to consider a few issues: How will these potential costs affect your family? How might your other goals be affected, or even altered, by your decision to self-insure? Will you have to adjust your investment mix or designate certain investments to help achieve your self-funding objectives? None of these questions should dissuade you from trying to self-fund for long-term care, but they can help you clarify the significance of this choice within your overall financial strategy. • You could combine self-insurance with an insurance policy. You could plan to self-insure for long-term care for a limited time – perhaps one year’s worth of anticipated costs – and then buy enough insurance for additional expenses. This technique could involve some juggling on your part, in terms of where to direct your money, but it might prove to be a workable compromise between self-insurance and putting all your long term care resources into an insurance policy. Which of these methods is right for you? There’s no one “right” answer for everyone. But whichever route you choose, you’ll be helping to protect yourself – and possibly your grown children or other family members – from the potentially huge costs of long-term care. This article was written by Edward Jones for use by Gary T Jones, your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor. To learn more contact me at g.jones@edwardjones.com

Gary T. Jones 973.821.4900 • g.jones@EdwardJones.com

With over 25 years of experience, I work with individuals and businesses to help you achieve your financial goals. As a longtime resident of SOMA I am proud to serve the local community. To learn more about the content of this article or schedule an appointment to talk about your goals, please contact me in my Maplewood office.

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